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From packaging to clothing to cigarette butts, more and more everyday items that once were destined for landfills are being recycled, composted or upcycled in creative ways.

Dear Reena: I avoid purchasing fresh garlic bulbs because I don’t like to take time to remove the peel from the bulbs. Do you have an idea of how to remove the peel without the headache? Blaine Place the garlic bulb inside a mason jar.

Dear Helen: Several times this fall I have visited local garden centres to select spring-flowering bulbs for planting in patio containers and the garden. Among the displays of bulbs, I came upon “Dutch Iris.

Dear Tony: Our council hired a contractor to clean our gutters and roof areas as we have several large maple trees around our property. The contractor removed the debris from the upper areas and simply dumped it onto our balconies and patios.

Brilliant sunshine and crisp, comfortable temperatures for much of October have more than made up for September’s rainy gloom.

Dear Reena: When we set the tables for our church supper, we discovered that two of our vinyl tablecloths had been carelessly folded and put away. How do we get the wrinkles out of them? I believe they will crack if left this way.

It’s not everyone’s dream to live with their extended family in two houses that are next door to each other and linked by a breezeway, but that’s what four generations of Laurel Hibbert’s family have done on their semi-rural property on the outskirts

The kitchen is such a busy space, with so many jobs to do. As the hub of the home, it is important that you feel happy and industrious here.

Dead leaves on the ground, dead stems on trees and shrubs, dead plants where flowers and vegetables once strutted their stuff — how forlorn the yard can look this time of year.

Dear Helen: Peonies in the garden of my new home are dying back. When should the fading top growth be removed? In the summer, I noticed a few young shoots on one of the plants had wilted.